Recently, at the European Executive Forum of the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA (News - Alert)), HERE Technologies, a global provider of mapping and location services, and Decawave, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in precise location and connectivity applications, announced a planned strategic partnership to accelerate the deployment of high-accuracy indoor location services.
The two companies intend to combine their respective capabilities — chipset, software, analytics and indoor mapping services — into a powerful out-of-the-box real-time and energy-efficient tracking solution. Based on Ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning technology, the solution supports the 3D positioning of objects and people down to 10 centimeters in indoor environments, even if there are obstructions in the way. This makes it significantly more useful and reliable for certain applications than other indoor positioning technologies such as WiFi (News - Alert), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).
The companies see a broad array of potential uses for their technology. These include the tracking of parts on a factory floor or medical equipment in a hospital; precision guidance for autonomous drones delivering packages; and automated valet parking for driverless vehicles.
“Being able to know where your stuff is at this level of precision at any time will bring enormous benefits to enterprises everywhere, not least greater efficiencies, security and safety,” said Erminio Di Paola, Head of Tracking, HERE Technologies. “By working with Decawave’s robust UWB chipset technology, we are significantly increasing the breadth of applications we can support with our tracking service.”
“Decawave’s technology has disrupted the indoor location market, opening the door to new products and services, increasing safety and security and driving efficiencies,” said Luc Darmon, Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer, Decawave. “Partnering with HERE, with their significant knowledge and reputation, will enable the mass adoption of new indoor location services across industries for the benefit of the whole value chain.”
The companies expect to begin offering their joint solution later in 2018.